The present invention relates to control systems and devices for use with beverage brewing apparatus and a beverage brewing apparatus incorporating such control devices.
A variety of beverage brewing apparatus are available for brewing beverages ranging from consumer devices to institutional models. The complexity of these brewers can range from a brewer which uses a simple timer to control the opening of a solenoid valve to a complex multi-station multi-function brewing apparatus. At the more simple end of the range, a simplified brewing apparatus may include a timer which controls the opening and closing of the solenoid valve to meter a selected volume of water into the brewing apparatus to infuse a manually measured quantity of beverage brewing substance retained in an infusion assembly such as a filter basket. Temperature control of the brewing water in such a device is typically accomplished using a simple thermostat. At the more complex end of the beverage brewing apparatus range are apparatus which include brewers with multiple batch size selection, multiple brew heads, separate multiple hot water tanks, numerous indicator lamps, sensors, timers as well as other components.
Operators of restaurants, caterers, or other food related industries typically own numerous brewers often including a variety of models ranging from the simple to the more complex. While any given owner may own beverage brewers from only one manufacturer, it is possible that the manufacturer offers a wide variety of beverage brewer models have numerous features. A user must be familiar with the set up and operation of each brewer model and the features of each model. Additionally, the user may desire to set up and operate all of the beverage brewers in a uniform manner such that the beverage produced by the variety of brewers will be consistent and repeatable. A problem arises, however, in that it may be difficult to set up the variety of beverage brewing apparatus in a uniform manner. Additionally, since the prior art beverage brewers are controlled by control panels which are integrated with the beverage brewing apparatus the setting on such beverage brewers may be altered as a result of tampering or accidental misuse.
One way to overcome the problem of uniform set up and operation is for a user to purchase only one type of beverage brewing apparatus. This is an impractical solution because brewing apparatus are often purchased over a period of time, often resulting in modifications to the features and operation of such features within the same model. Additionally, a user will often purchase a specific type of brewer for a specific application, in other words, a user will not purchase a highly complex multi-station brewer when a simple single station device will suffice.
Another problem mentioned hereinabove, is the possibility that a brewer may fall out of adjustment through tampering or accidental misuse. One way to overcome this problem would be to provide a lockout on the brewer to prevent access to the control panel. This can be a problem in and of itself, since the temptation to tamper often induces actual tampering. If some form of lockout device is used with the control panel, it is highly likely that such a device, as well as the control panel, will be damaged in the attempt to tamper with the brewer. Further, such a lock out feature may interfere with or prevent the intentional adjustment of the brewer. As such, it would be valuable to provide a beverage brewer which separates the adjustment function from the general operating function and control of the beverage brewing apparatus.
Another problem with the prior art beverage brewing apparatus is that the infusion assembly is prone to overflowing under certain operating conditions. An example of an operating condition in which an infusion assembly may overflow includes circumstances in which very soft water is used to brew decaffeinated coffee. The characteristics of the soft water and the decaffeinated coffee tend to result in the water having a slower draining rate through the brewing substance resulting in brewing water accumulating in the filter basket of the infusion assembly. Since the flow rate into the infusion assembly is greater than the flow rate out of the infusion assembly, the basket tends to overflow. One way to overcome this problem is to use a bypass structure which allows a portion of the water, which would otherwise overflow the basket, to bypass the filter and flow directly into a collection container. Water which bypasses the filter and the beverage brewing substance retained therein typically dilutes the resulting brewed beverage. Due to the diluting effect of the bypass type basket, an additional quantity of brewing substance must be used in order to achieve a desired taste and consistency of the brewed beverage.
For the forgoing reasons, there is a need for a control system for a beverage brewing apparatus which will accommodate a variety of beverage brewing devices, prevent tampering with or accidental misadjustment of the selected programmable adjustments, and prevent the beverage infusion assembly from overflowing.